Jotaro's Hardest Battle
by makdubi69420
Summary: When Koichi's house is burned down in a tragic fire, he loses everything, including his mom and sister. Lucky for him, Jotaro insists that he will adopt Koichi and Koichi will be able to live a happy and safe life. But when Rohan has the same intentions, things turn sour between Jotaro and Rohan as they battle over Koichi. Who will win the ultimate quest for custody?
1. Chapter 1

Jotaro's Hardest Battle

Chapter 1: Prologue

Sirens were all that flooded Koichi's ears that night. Not the ordinary laughs and chuckles chased by lighthearted jokes filling his living room while the warm fireplace crackled. Koichi's brain sizzled at these thoughts, a feeling quickly drowned out by the otherwise numbness filling his mind, tormenting him, blocking everything else out. Nothing mattered. Why should it. Everything he ever knew and loved had been taken from him. Why were other assholes allowed to be happy, but he wasn't? Fuck this world, he thought. What's the point!?

When he saw a familiar face in the distance, he felt slightly better, knowing that his beloved friends would be there for him no matter what. Two faces actually, belonging to Jotaro Kujo and Josuke Higashikata. Arguably his two closest friends out of them all.

Josuke rushed towards Koichi with all of his might, whereas Jotaro lagged behind, hiding his face, always keeping his cool no matter what. He had to be strong for everyone.

Josuke got there first. "Koichi!" Josuke kneeled down beside his close friend with an empathetic look on his face. He hugged Koichi, sorrow emanating from both of their bodies.

Jotaro arrived second. He exchanged looks with Koichi. Koichi expected something more. His goddamn house had just burned down in a fire, and all this solemn fuckhead did was stare at him?

Koichi ignored him, and instead turned towards Josuke.

"What happens next?" Kochi said, holding back tears. His eyes were dry from the amount he had cried the whole night. Why did he have to survive out of all of them? "I mean, who's going to take care of me? Im still just a kid…"

"I-I guess I can ask my mom to let you stay with us, at least for a little bit. She's kind and I know she'll understand the situation. Especially if it's you, Koichi." Josuke offered kindly. "R-really?" Koichi replied.

"Yeah, of c-"

"No"

…

Josuke had been interrupted by Jotaro. But what was the meaning of this? No? What did that mean?

…

More unbroken silence.

"What the hell do you mean 'No', Jotaro-san, he has no other living relatives!"

"I only meant that he'll be staying with me for his youth, and that's a promise."

Koichi's face was hot as fire. "WHAT!? You're just going to up and what, adopt me? Without any consideration or planning? Where do you even live, what do you even do for a living?"

"I already have a daughter. And trust me, I'm financially secure."

….

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Was all that Josuke could squeeze out. Jotaro-san has a daughter? Why did they never know this?

"Her name's Jolyne, and she's quite happy. She goes to a nice elementary school. She does well there. She has good grades, and she likes to play video games. I always make sure to spend quality time with her when I can, I buy her delicious food and new video games when she wants them. When she comes home from school, she shows me the grades on her homework, and we play video games together. Then we prepare dinner together. She eats, brushes her teeth, and goes to bed. After a nice bedtime story that is. She aspires to be a marine biologist like me, and I make sure to nurture that drive by telling her about my marine-related discoveries. She has a lot of friends, and I make sure to invite them over every once in a while, for a playdate. What I'm trying to say is that we want to live a peaceful, quiet life. That is how we deal with society, and that is what makes us happy. We both make sure to get enough sleep, and to wake up in the morning completely fresh. I don't like to make enemies, as this would interrupt our way of life. But, if I ever were to get in a fight, I would never lose."

"… Where have I heard that before… hmmm" Josuke wondered ironically.

"All I want you to know is that you'll be happy living with me and my daughter, Koichi. You'll be happy there, and more importantly you will be safe with me and Jolyne. You won't have to worry ever again. But I will warn you. In order to make sure you are safe, and in order to live with me, you will have to leave Morioh." Jotaro said.

"What!? No, there's no way he's leaving Morioh where all his friends are. Right, Koichi? Right?" Josuke blurted out. It sounded less selfish in his head, though.

"I don't know, Jotaro-san. The offer is great, and I- " Koichi was swiftly interrupted.

"Yo, Josuke! I heard there was a fire around here. I saw you running towards it, so I tried to catch up, but then that pasta from earlier got to me, and I had to take a break, but now I'm here agai-… oh… shit…" Okuyasu stopped himself in his tracks.

Koichi couldn't take anything anymore. He just needed silence right now, not people. He didn't want to think about anything at all, and he certainly did not want to talk. He just wanted the numbness from before to return. He ran off before anyone could stop him.

"Koichi, wait!" Josuke shouted.

"What about the offer? Koichi!" Jotaro asked.

"Shit… is this… is this Koichi's house?" Okuyasu murmured, feeling more guilt than he ever had before.

"Yeah, no shit! And now he's run off to god knows where because of you and your loudmouth! Just keep track of things for once, will you? At least for your goddamn friends!" Josuke screamed.

"I-Im sorry, Josuke, please forgive me, I should have known, you're right! Like always! Please don't be mad…" Okuyasu pleaded.

"Whatever, I'll see you at school tomorrow, if I even decide to come at all." Josuke stormed off as well, leaving a somber Jotaro and Okuyasu behind.

There had been seldom talk between them in the past, and that wasn't about to change under these circumstances.

Jotaro walked in the direction that Koichi ran, probably curious of where the poor boy went. Okuyasu was left to his own thoughts amidst the sirens and chaos around him, and he couldn't think of anything other than how stupid he had just been.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

"Hey Koichi-kun!" Rohan shouted out. It startled Koichi awake from the nap he took on a bench in some dirty alleyway.

"Erm, uh, h-hey Rohan-sensei, I, umm…" Koichi was only half awake after being snapped out of slumber. He almost forgot everything that happened last night. He wished it was a dream.

It all came back to him. He felt like bawling his eyes out once more. But he needed to stay strong and break out of this cycle, as well as getting the help he needed.

"Everybody's looking for you! We were all worried about you, thinking you had ran off somewhere you'd get lost, and we wouldn't be able to find you." Rohan explained.

"Guess I was the lucky winner!" Rohan joked, before his face turned from cheerful to somber in a split second, noticing Koichi's still face.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be joking at a time like this. I'm just trying to cheer you up. How about I take you to the police station so we can get things sorted out, in ca-"

"I already did all of that, can we just not talk about it? I need to find Jotaro-san, we have something to talk about." Koichi interrupted.

"J-Jotaro-san? Why would you need to talk to Jotaro-san? Tell you what Koichi, if you don't want to keep talking about it, we can have a fun day out together to take your mind off of things! We can go get ice cream, we can go to the electronics store, I'll even get you some new clothes! So whaddaya say?" Rohan offered.

"I mean… yeah, that actually sounds kind of fun! But I did promise Jotaro-san…" Koichi replied.

"Forget about that! For now, lets take your mind off of things. Where do you want to go first?" Rohan smiled.

**LATER THAT DAY**

"Wow, that was super fun Rohan-sensei! Thanks for getting me my favorite flavor of ice cream!" Koichi cheered, a smile on his face for the first time in a good while.

"Of course! Anything to cheer you up. Besides, we're not done just yet are we? Where to next? The shoe store? The electronics store? The comic book store?" Rohan said excitedly.

Koichi looked at his watch. "I'm supposed to be meeting Jotaro-san in ten minutes… I can still make it…"

"Why do you need to be meeting him anyways? What does he want with you?" Rohan exclaimed. He'll admit it came off a little bit more aggressively than he intended.

"I-I mean, why does he want to see you? Does it have to do with… ya know…" Rohan tried to rephrase it, putting it a little more passively this time. It's not that he hated Jotaro-san, and he didn't want Koichi to think that he did. He was just afraid that Jotaro would get in the way of his… plans.

"Hmm… I guess since you're my close friend, you can be the first I tell, Rohan-sensei." Koichi said as Rohan leaned in, intrigued by what he was about to say.

"He wants to… well… I guess… he wants to adopt me. Yeah, I guess that's how you'd put it." Koichi said, without really thinking.

Rohan just sort of sat there, blank-eyed. He couldn't believe it. He suspected Jotaro-san to do exactly this, and he was right. Jotaro-san truly was about to get in the way of his plans.

Rohan snapped out of it after a good ten seconds before stumbling back out of his chair and almost knocking over a table. "He wants to WHAT!?" Rohan shouted. Again, he didn't mean to come off as aggressively as he did, but it was a heated moment.

"I-I didn't think you'd have such a problem with that, Rohan-sensei. Do you think there's something wrong with him adopting me?" Koichi said, his mood turning 180 in no time.

"Well no, there's no problem with him adopting you necessarily, its just that… well… I sort of had the same plans." Rohan confessed.

Now it was Koichi's turn to sit there blank eyed. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Both Jotaro-san AND Rohan-sensei wanted to adopt him, both of which he had only known for a little over a year!?

"So, let me get this straight. You want to adopt me? Like full-on adopt me? Take care of me, buy me new clothes, and let me live at your house!?" Koichi wanted to make sure he wasn't just hearing things.

"Yeah" was all that Rohan could say.

"R-Rohan-sensei, you're only 21 years old! You don't think you're too young!?" Koichi replied. He couldn't believe it. He wasn't hearing things. This shit was for real.

"Not at all, Koichi-kun. In fact, I think my young blood makes it all the better. You and I can connect more, you'll really feel like I'm your friend more than your dad. And besides, have you SEEN my house!? I don't know what to do with half of the space in there! There's more than enough room to accommodate you! And plus, I can teach you all about my work! You can learn about the intricacies of manga drawing and everything that comes with it!" Rohan provided a sturdy argument, Koichi had to admit. But was he really ready for this!?

Koichi then realized something terrifying. If he was really going to take one of these offers, he would have to choose between either Jotaro-san or Rohan-sensei! While Jotaro provided a more safe, secure, wholesome family life that sounded quite appealing to Koichi, he would also have to leave Morioh, where all of his friends were! Which, might be for the better considering how dangerous Morioh was getting lately.

On the other hand, staying with Rohan-sensei meant he could stay in Morioh. But while Rohan-sensei had plenty of money, being a manga artist wasn't the most secure job, and unlike Jotaro-san, Rohan didn't have any experience with parenting beforehand.

Koichi didn't know who to pick, or even take up either offer in the first place. It was then that a familiar voice called out to Koichi, grabbing both his and Rohan's attention.

It was Jotaro-san.


	2. Chapter 2

Jotaro's Hardest Battle

Chapter 2: The Confrontation

"There's absolutely no way! Not a chance Jotaro-san! I've spent a far larger amount of time with Koichi then you have! And besides, I live closer to him, while you're just here on official business! I'm sure he'd rather live where he's lived his whole life, where all his friends are, than some shitty old place in the Florida slums!"

Uh-oh.

What the hell has been going on with Rohan recently? It's as if everything come out more aggressively then intended. Especially when regarding Jotaro-san… perhaps it had to do with the topic of discussion?

All Koichi could do was stare at Rohan; jaws wide open in disbelief at how he had just disrespected somebody older than him!

What was more confusing, was Jotaro's response to the barrage of words he had just been hit by.

Jotaro stood there, looking down at his feet; his hat cocked downwards as to hide his face and darken his neck. Truly a menacing pose, but was Rohan-sensei threatened!?

"I was willing to put up with the shit that was coming out of your mouth Rohan. That is, until you implied that I live in some sort of… 'slums' was the word you used. I assure you, with a daughter of my own, I would never allow her to grow up in any home that was sub-par."

What!? This was news to Rohan. If he had known Jotaro-san had a daughter, of course he would've gone easier with his rebuttal! He didn't know how to correct his mistake, and he feared Jotaro-san was preparing to retaliate in the worst way possible.

"And to top it all off, you say you've spent more time with Koichi than me!? I knew him months before you did, comic-boy! And besides, let's say he's in danger and being attacked. What are you going to do about it, write a fucking book!? Maybe after all that pencil-pushing, your brains a little messed up from being alone all the time, and you take it out on Koichi! You're 21! Men your age are still studying the difference between their left and right ass cheeks!" Jotaro went all out on Rohan, he didn't hold back! Koichi had nothing but respect for the man after a comeback like that!

But as Koichi looked back to Rohan, the respect flew away somewhere, because… because… because… Rohan-sensei was crying!?

Koichi was sure of it! No doubt! Rohan was bawling his eyes out like a baby!

"H-how could you s-say such h-hurtful things to lil' old me, J-Jotaro-san!? After all,"

All of a sudden, Rohan had stopped crying. Why? Was he over it already!? Or… uh oh…

"Its not like YOU'RE anything different, you pea-brained, small-dicked, one-balled, weak-armed, pencil-neck son of a BITCH!"

"What the hell…" Was all Koichi could sputter out before Rohan went off again.

"WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ABUSING A CHILD WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SOLVES EVERYTHING BY PUNCHING IT!? MAYBE KOICHI DOESN'T WANT TO GET YOU A CAN OF BEER ONE NIGHT, YOU'VE HAD A BAD DAY AT WORK, SO YOU 'ORA ORA ORA' HIM JUST LIKE YOU DO EVERYBODY ELSE! OR ARE YOU JUST TOO INSECURE TO REALIZE YOUR OWN PROBLEMS, SO YOU TAKE IT ALL OUT ON SOMEBODY WHO'S FAR MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN YOU ARE OR EVER WILL BE! IM YOUNGER THAN YOU AND I LIVE IN A MANSION! I HAVE MONEY FOR YEARS! AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE!? NOTHING! JACK SHIT IS WHAT YOU HAVE, JOTARO! IF YOU LOVE YOUR DAUGHTER SO MUCH, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS FIND SOME EXCUSE TO RUN AWAY FROM HOME AND TROUBLE EVERYBODY ELSE WITH YOUR SHIT! NEXT TIME YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT STEPPING UP TO ME, ROHAN KISHIBE, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU ENTER THE EARTH, AND NOT COME BACK FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY! WHO THE HELL IS GONNA MISS YOU ANYWAYS!? CERTAINLY NOT KOICHI, DO YOU KNOW THE THINGS HE SAYS ABOUT YOU BEHIND YOUR BACK!? HELL, THE THINGS THAT EVERYBODY SAYS BEHIND YOUR BACK, ACTUALLY! JOSUKE, OKUYASU, KOICHI, YUKAKO, EVERYBODY! ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY WHO EVER MET YOU, DOES, AND ALWAYS WILL, DESPISE YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Rohan-sensei!? What do you think you're saying!? None of that is true, and you know it! Everybody loves Jotaro-san! Why do you guys have to fight about this! Honestly, children is what you two are! CHILDREN! It's as if both of you just forgot that my mom and sister died two days ago, and yet it's somehow all about you guys!? I still have to set up a funeral, write a eulogy, and THIS is what you guys are worried about!? Jesus Christ, maybe I shouldn't live with either of you!" And with that, Koichi ran away. Both Jotaro and Rohan shouting at him that they're sorry, and for him to come back, but it was too late. Koichi was already on his way to Josuke's house.

"Yo Josuke! Ask Koichi if he wants some tea too!" Okuyasu shouted at Josuke from another room over. Koichi was sitting next to Josuke on his couch watching television shows. Josuke's mom was out of town for business. So he had the house to himself and he was willing to let Koichi and Okuyasu hang out there for a while. Especially Koichi, who told Josuke about everything.

"Yeah, I'll have some." Koichi replied to Okuyasu in a monotone voice which signaled to Josuke that the situation really was as bad as Koichi described it.

"That's messed up man. Honestly. And selfish too. I really get where you're coming from Koichi. I've had my share of parental problems too, as you know." Josuke chuckled, hoping to get one out of Koichi as well, but none came.

"Yeah," was all that Koichi had in store instead.

Josuke thought of ways he could cheer his friend up, but he just didn't know how to. This was one thing he couldn't fix. Koichi was coming from a hard place, and most of Josuke's tricks that would work if Koichi got in a fight at school or got to the ice cream parlor too late weren't working.

"Excuse me for a sec Koichi. Stay right there." Josuke excused himself from the room and walked into the kitchen where Okuyasu was cutting the crust off his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"We have to cheer Koichi up somehow, but I just don't know the way to do it." Josuke confessed to Okuyasu.

"Well, umm, uh…" Okuyasu stuttered a few times before coming to a conclusion.

"I don't know." Okuyasu replied.

…

"What?" Josuke said.

"I'm in the same boat as you, man. Koichi seems super down and I don't know how to pick him up. What have you tried?" Okuyasu asked Josuke.

"Everything. All the games we used to play, all our tv shows. I even offered to take him to some fun place, but he says he doesn't feel like going outside." Josuke said, fear and discontent in his voice.

"This is one of the few times I feel utterly helpless." Josuke was taking Koichi's sadness seriously, and he was going to cheer him up, no matter the cost.

"Has he talked to Yukako since the incident?" Okuyasu asked.

"Nope. I don't think he's talked to anybody but me, you, Rohan-sensei and Jotaro-san since it happened. But can you blame him? It's like we barely gave him any time to just, take it all in, ya know? Maybe it's just me, but I think the best way to cheer Koichi up is to just give him space and be there for him. That's what friends do." Josuke suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Maybe we're just overthinking it." Okuyasu added.

Josuke and Okuyasu entered the room, Josuke feeling much more content since he went into the kitchen. That was, until he heard a knock at the door.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

It was just three at first. Josuke passed it off as the mailman letting Josuke know the papers were here. He ignored it and went to sit down with Koichi, but then it came again. Four this time.

*knock* *knock* *knock* *knock*

Josuke went to the window of the door and peered out to see who was knocking. His heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was.

JOTARO-SAN!? But why was he here? Why now? If the situation was as bad as Koichi described, neither Jotaro-san nor Rohan-sensei should have even thought of seeing him until tomorrow at the very least!

"Who is it?" Koichi asked from the living room.

"Uh, umm, no one! Just ignore it!" Josuke had to lie for Koichi's sake. But he wouldn't let Jotaro knock again.

He ran towards the door and opened it as Jotaro was preparing to knock for a third time.

"What do you want, Jotaro-san?" Josuke asked with a melodramatic tone.

"I'm here to see Koichi" Jotaro-san replied deadpan.

"He's not here." Josuke snapped. As he was about to close the door, Jotaro extended his hand as to keep it open.

"You're lying. Where else would he go, Josuke?" Jotaro-san had a point. Where else would he go?

"Okay. You got me. He's here. But you're not going to see him." Josuke replied, defeated.

"Why not?" Jotaro-san responded.

Josuke presumed he would have to take this a step further in order to chase Jotaro-san away.

"He told me everything that happened. Apparently Both you and Rohan-sensei want to adopt him, and you got into a pretty heated argument over it this evening. Me and Okuyasu made an executive decision as his good friends that everybody needs to just give him some time and space, so he can recuperate and recover. It's not like these matters can't wait. My mom would be happy to be his temporary guardian until the funeral is done. Then, you can talk to him about the formalities afterwards." Josuke said sternly. He wasn't going to budge about this decision. Koichi needed space and that was that.

"Fine then. That actually makes a lot of sense. But can't I just go in to apologize to him? I really do feel bad." Jotaro-san admitted.

"I'm pretty sure you'll want to wait to say sorry if you want that apology to be accepted. He's still pretty mad about the argument between you and Rohan-sensei. Speaking of Rohan, where is he? Didn't he want to apologize too?" Josuke was trying his hardest to ward off Jotaro and do everything he could to keep all of this off Koichi's mind. But he was also genuinely interest in what Rohan was up to.

"That's… not important" Jotaro said, hiding his face. It was one of his tells, and Josuke knew it.

"You beat him up, didn't you?" Josuke asked, anger in his voice.

"Not 'beat him up' necessarily, I just taught him a quick lesson. Only a bloody nose and a few cuts. And besides, he deserved it. I don't know if Koichi included the details when he reported to you about what happened, but Rohan was talking too much shit to be ignored, Josuke. You would have done the same thing!" Jotaro told the truth.

"For Christ's sake Jotaro! Yeah, because this is exactly what we need right now! We should all be there for Koichi, offering him the support he needs, but instead, you two are only focused on arguing and fighting about stupid shit! If you really care about Koichi, then both of you should know the right thing to do! It's embarrassing, to tell the truth! You two are the most -excuse me- SHOULD be the most mature people out of all of us! And instead, you two are acting more childish than anybody. It's taking a toll on Koichi, and you two should have realized that by now!" Josuke's face was getting redder and redder by the minute. He waited for Jotaro to either leave or fire back at him, but instead Jotaro just cleared his throat in a very sarcastic way.

Josuke's heart skipped another beat. This whole situation was taking years off of his life. He slowly looked behind him, and standing there, arms at his sides, was Koichi.

"I called the grave keeper. The wake's Tuesday. Come, or don't." And with that, Koichi walked right past both of them and out the door.

All on his own.


End file.
